Maritime Memorial - Cardiff Bay - Wales.
N 51° 27.788 W 003° 09.757
30U E 488703 N 5701341
This abstract sculpture is a memorial for all those seafarers, who have no grave but the sea. It has two distinct aspects, a beached shipwreck hull & a timeless fallen face. Located in front of the Welsh Parliament, Cardiff, Capitol of Wales.
Waymark Code: WMQR5K
Location: South Wales, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 03/22/2016
Views: 4
A tear jerking & awe inspiring abstract sculpture, made from riveted galvanized steel.
"Some lost at sea memorials are touched by genius. The images they convey are timeless and universal – like all great art.
The designer and sculptor of this unforgettable memorial in Wales is Brian Fell.
Approach the sculpture from one side or from the rear and you see a hull section of a merchant ship resting on a beach or the ocean floor, torn from the rest of the vessel, the ship’s framing exposed to the sea or the elements. Walk around to the other side and you see the face of every human lost forever to the sea incorporated in that same hull section. Expand the photos above to better appreciate this amazing piece of art." Text Source; (
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The Sculpture sits in a circular mosaic, inscribed :- "IN MEMORY OF THE MERCHANT SEAFARERS FROM THE PORTS OF BARRY PENARTH CARDIFF WHO DIED IN TIMES OF WAR"
"Tiger Bay and Butetown provided a high proportion of Cardiff's merchant seamen and in 1994, the Merchant Navy Memorial Committee began campaigning for a monument to the many killed in war. Brought up on his father's stories of life as a wartime merchant seafarer, Brian Fell sought out Britain's last hydraulic riveting workshop and learnt this disappearing skill in order to 'seam' steel sections into the sculpture's two distinct aspects - a timeless face and beached ship's hull.' The memorial won the Lord Mayor's Civic Award 1997."
Taken from the book :- 'The Bay and other Artwalks'
Tear Jerker; Mr. Henke "Called to his final voyage";
"The second thought derives from a single line in an email from Peter Haines. When discussing Bill Henke’s essential contributions to the memorial, Peter added one final fact, which I’ll quote: “actually died right next to the statue he had spent years fighting to build.”
I believe that Mr. Henke was in his early 80s at the time of his death – most of his last six decades spent serving as an active merchant seafarer, or in preserving the memories of those he knew and those he never met, but who also served at sea. I suspect late in life he took great comfort in gazing at the steel frames and riveted plates that magically form the peaceful image of friends long gone, but not forgotten. I also suspect he died at the exact place he would have wanted to be when his fellow shipmates called him to his final voyage… " Text Source; (
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